Apparatus, Method and Computer Readable Storage Medium for Collecting Doobers in an Electronic Game

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, method and computer-readable storage medium for efficiently collecting doobers. A game area may be presented in a graphical user interface on a display device. The game area may include a game character associated with a first player, regions and objects within the regions. The character may move within the regions and interact with the objects. One or more doobers may be presented in the game area, and the doober(s) may be identified as collected by the first player in response to one or more inputs to the graphical user interface by the first player. The doober(s) may be marked as collected if an input is within a particular distance from the doober(s).

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a Continuation Application under 35 USC § 120 andclaims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/731,678,entitled “Apparatus, Method and Computer Readable Storage Medium forCollecting Doobers in an Electronic Game”, filed on Dec. 31, 2012, whichfurther claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/581,484, filed Dec. 29, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereinincorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD

The presently disclosed embodiments relate to interactive datapresentation, for example, during computer game play.

BACKGROUND

Interactive computer games hosted on a computer in which a playerinteracts with the computer through a graphical user interface areknown. Examples of games may include Frontierville from Zynga, theassignee of the present application. The presentation of a game on thecomputer device may include a graphical user interface that provides agame board in which an avatar, or a character representing a player,performs tasks. As part of the game, the avatar may perform actionssimilar to a human, such as walking, picking up an object, and travelingthrough the game board. The avatar may perform these actions in responseto inputs to the computer or graphical user interface or both made by aplayer. During game play, the player may be awarded a visualrepresentation of a reward in the game called a doober. The doober maybe collected by the player by inputs to the computer or graphical userinterface. Traditional computer games require a player to performmultiple actions or complex actions to collect a doober. Thus, thereexists a need for ways to collect doobers in an efficient manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary view of a graphical user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary view of a graphical user interface afteracquiring a doober according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a doober and an acquire space around a doober in anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates acquiring a doober in a first person shooterelectronic game in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary hardware configuration for implementinga system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments may be discussed herein to efficiently collect doobers in anelectronic game. In an embodiment, an electronic game apparatus may beprovided for efficiently collecting doobers. The apparatus may include agraphical user interface to receive and respond to player inputs andpresent data to a first player; a display device to present thegraphical user interface; and a processor that executes computerinstructions for responding to player inputs and manipulating thepresentation of data in the graphical user interface and causing thepresentation of the data on the display device. The processor may beconfigured to present a game window in the graphical user interface onthe display device. The game window may include a game characterassociated with the first player, regions and objects within theregions. The character may move within the regions and interact with theobjects. The processor may also be configured to present one or moredoobers in the game window, and the processor may be configured to markthe doober(s) as collected by the first player in response to one ormore inputs to the graphical user interface by the first player. Adoober may be marked as collected if an input moves a cursor within aparticular distance from the doober.

Another embodiment provides a method for performing the steps executedby the previously described apparatus for efficiently collecting doobersin an electronic game.

Another embodiment provides a computer readable medium containingcomputer readable program instructions that when executed by a processorperforms the previously described method for efficiently collectingdoobers in an electronic game.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary view of a graphical user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. The graphical userinterface (GUI) 100 may be presented on a display device, e.g., computermonitor, tablet computer, television. The graphical user interface 100may present a game board 105 that is an environment with which an avatar120 interacts. For example, FIG. 1 shows an frontier-themed game boardenvironment. Other themes, such as the “wild west,” underwater,extraterrestrial, archeological, fantasy-oriented themed game boardenvironments may also be used. In addition, the GUI 100 may include tabs(not shown) for navigating between different game screens. The avatar120 may be a character representation of a player, and may respond toinputs to the GUI 100. The game board 105 may include indicators, suchas a task list (not shown), tool kits 115, game progress indicators 113.No matter the theme of the game board, the game boards, including gameboard 105, may have in addition to an avatar 120, paths 130 fortraveling around the game board 105, and objects 140 and 160. Objectsmay include obstacles, such as bushes, or traps, such as a banana peelthat may cause the avatar 120 to slip. Objects may also include animals,plants, and structures that the avatar may interact with. Obstacleobjects 140 may be removed by the player by commanding the avatar 120 toperform some action. For example, the player may select a tool from thetool kit 115, and the avatar 120, in response to player inputs to theGUI 100, may clear the bushes (obstacle object 140) that block a path. Atask list may present a number of tasks that are to be performed by theplayer via the avatar 120 during game play. Some of the tasks in thetask list, e.g., feed the cute piglet 160, may be easily accomplished bythe player, while others may be more challenging.

Inputs to GUI 100 which control the avatar 120 and other objects in thegame may be via an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse device, or acombination of both. For example, the player may use a mouse devicewhich controls a cursor (for example, a mouse pointer) 170 to move thecursor to a particular location on the GUI 100, and click one or morebuttons on the mouse to select an object and then control that object.For example, in an embodiment, the player may use a mouse device to movecursor 170 to avatar 120 to select the avatar 120, and then move thecursor over an object such as the piglet 160, and click on the piglet160 to instruct the avatar to feed the piglet 160. In anotherembodiment, the player may use a mouse device to move cursor 170 toavatar 120 to select the avatar 120, and then press one or more keys ona keyboard device to instruct the avatar 120 to perform an action or atask.

During game play, the player may be awarded points and/or rewards forcompleting tasks or successfully interacting with certain objects inorder to complete tasks. For example, in an embodiment, a task may bepresented to the player to build an extension to the house 180. In orderto do so, the avatar 120 may have to cut down a tree 175 to obtainlumber required to build the extension. If the player successfully cutsdown the tree 175 and obtains lumber, the player may be given a rewardsuch as points or money. These rewards may be used by the player toobtain objects in the game to enhance the game play experience (forexample, a new outfit for the avatar) or to obtain objects to advancethe player in the game (for example, a tool that helps the avatarcomplete tasks, or complete tasks quicker). In an embodiment,rewards/points may automatically accumulate when a player completes atask or interacts with an object.

In an embodiment, a reward may appear on the GUI 100 as a visualrepresentation of the reward 185, but the player may not benefit fromthe reward until the player collects or acquires the visualrepresentation of the reward 185. The visual representation of thereward may be called a doober. For example, the doober 185 may be gameplay money which may be used by the player to obtain tools or materialsin the game. In an embodiment, the visual representation of the money185 will not be added to the player's overall accumulated money 114 inthe game unless the player acquires the doober. For example, the overallaccumulated money 114 may increase from 2006 to 2007 once the playeracquires the doober 185. In order to acquire the doober, the player mayhave to perform one or more actions. In an embodiment, to acquire thedoober, the player may move the avatar 120 close to the location of thedoober. In a further embodiment, the player may move cursor 170 via amouse device to the doober 185 and click a button on the mouse device.

In the above exemplary embodiments, the player has to execute more thanone action, or a complex action, in order to collect the doober 185. Itmay be advantageous for the player to acquire the doober with a singleaction, or one or more simple actions. Accordingly, in an embodiment,the player may move cursor 170 via a mouse device to the doober 185, andmay automatically accumulate the reward when the cursor touches thedoober 185. This may be referred to as a mouseover. In an embodiment,the player only needs to move the cursor within a distance thresholdfrom the doober 185 to accumulate the reward.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary view of a graphical user interface afteracquiring a doober according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 2 shows the game board 105 (from FIG. 1) after the doober 185 isacquired by touching the doober 185 with cursor 270. The doober 185 maydisappear as soon as cursor 270 touches the doober 185, and the rewardaccumulated by the player may be incremented. For example, the number ofcoins accumulated by the player may be incremented from 2006 to 2007(214) as a result of acquiring the doober 185. Acquiring the doober 185may also be accompanied by a notice 285 on the GUI indicating to theplayer that doober 185 has been acquired. For example, the notice 285indicates that +1 coins were gained.

FIG. 3 illustrates a doober and an acquire space around a doober in anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows an overheadview of an exemplary doober 310. The exemplary doober is shown in theform of two coins, but a person having ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the doober may take any visual representation form. Inan embodiment, a player may need to move a cursor until the cursortouches the outline of the doober 310 in order to acquire the doober. Inanother embodiment, a player only needs to move the cursor until thecursor touches the outline of the space surrounding the doober 320 toacquire the doober. This space may be referred to as the doober acquirespace. The doober acquire space may be defined by various spatialparameters. For example, the doober acquire space may be take any shapeincluding a rectangular area 320 or a circular area 330. The dooberacquire space does not necessarily have to be symmetrical, and can beirregularly shaped. Although FIG. 3 has been illustrated with2-dimensional drawings, the principles discussed in FIG. 3 areapplicable to games which render graphics in a 3-dimensional space.Specifically, doober 310 may occupy 3-dimensions, and doober acquirespace 320 may be a 3-dimensional rectangular cube encapsulating3-dimensional doober 310. Similarly, a 3-dimensional sphere 330, mayencapsulate a doober. When a cursor touches the 3-dimensional spacewhich encapsulates the doober, the doober may be acquired.

FIG. 4 illustrates acquiring a doober in a first person shooterelectronic game in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.Examples of first person shooter games are Doom, Half Life, Halo, andModern Warfare. The graphical user interface (GUI) 400 may be presentedon a display device, e.g., computer monitor, tablet computer,television. The graphical user interface 400 may present a 3-dimensionalgame view 405 of an environment in which a player interacts with gameobjects and game characters. The player views the game from a firstperson perspective of an associated character within the game. I.e., theplayer views the game through the eyes of the character and can interactwith the game environment by manipulating the character through inputsvia input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, or a joystick. Thecrosshair 470 shows the position of a cursor (for example, a mousepointer), and controls the direction in which the character's eyes aredirected. The player can control the view on the GUI 400, by moving thecursor. The player may also control the movement of his/her associatedcharacter via an input device such as a keyboard or a joystick. As thecharacter moves (for example, walks or runs) in the game, the point ofview of the character, and consequently the image displayed on the GUI400, changes.

A doober 485 may be presented in a first person shooter video game. Thedoober 485 may be a visual representation of an object that isbeneficial to the character associated with the player. For example, inan exemplary military themed game, the doober 485 may be a weapon, ammo,health, or a shield. In traditional first person shooter games, theplayer has to move the character to the location of the doober 485 inorder to acquire the doober 485. In addition, the player may have topress a button to acquire the doober 485. Therefore, it is desirable toacquire the doober by minimizing the number of steps and/or effort.Accordingly, in an embodiment, the player may move cursor 470 via aninput device to the doober 485, and may automatically acquire the doober485 when the cursor touches the doober 485. In an embodiment, the playeronly needs to move the cursor within a distance threshold from thedoober 485.

Although the above embodiments have been discussed in the context ofonline games with a game board and first person shooter games, a personhaving ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the principlesdiscussed are not restrictive and can be applied to any type of videogame including third person shooters, tactical shooters, light-gungames, role-playing games, strategy games, simulation games, sportsgames, massively multiplayer online games, arcade games, and fightinggames.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary hardware configuration for implementinga system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system500 may comprise one or more networked servers 510 and 515, one or moreplayer computers 521, 523, 524 and 526, data storage devices 513, wiredand wireless communication links 540, 542, wireless access point 534,and portable device(s) 531. The one or more networked servers 510 and515 may execute a multi-application software system that may include aweb server, gaming software applications and social networkingapplications. The servers 510, 515 may include processor(s), internalmemory and related computer program instructions (all not shown). Theplayer computers 521, 523, 524, 526 may include a processor, displaydevice, and data storage device, such as a hard disk (all not shown).

The server 510 and/or 515 may provide connectivity between the players'computers 521, 523, 524 and 526, and/or players' portable device(s) 531over wired or wireless communication paths. The server 510 may accessdata storage device(s) 513 that store machine-readable softwareinstructions for executing the described method which may be accessedand executed by the processor(s) of the server 510. The instructions forgenerating and presenting may be downloaded to players' computers 521,523, 524 and 526, and/or players' portable device(s) 531 over wired orwireless communication paths. The game software may execute on theprocessors in the players' computers 521, 523, 524 and 526, and/orplayers' portable device(s) 531.

The data storage device(s) 513 also may store data related to theplayers for future use. The data storage device 513 that may be a harddisk drive, non-volatile memory, flash memory, or any suitable devicefor storing electronic data, and may be organized as a object-orientedor relational database.

The servers 510 and 515 may communicate with client terminal(s) 521,523, 524, 526 and portable device(s) 531 via the internet 542. Theplayer computers 521, 523, 524, 526 may include a processor, displaydevice, and data storage device, such as a hard disk (all not shown).The client terminals 521, 523, 524, 526 may participate in execution ofprogram instructions. The portable device 531 may be a smartphone,personal digital assistant, tablet, notebook or mini-notebook computercapable of wired and/or wireless communication. The portable device 531may include memory, a processor, input device, display, and devices thatenable wired or wireless communication.

Several embodiments of the present invention are specificallyillustrated and described herein. Those skilled in the art mayappreciate from the foregoing description that the present invention maybe implemented in a variety of forms, and that the various embodimentsmay be implemented alone or in combination. In other instances,well-known operations, components and circuits have not been describedin detail so as not to obscure the embodiments. It can be appreciatedthat the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein maybe representative and do not necessarily limit the scope of theembodiments. Therefore, while the embodiments of the present inventionhave been described in connection with particular examples thereof, thetrue scope of the embodiments and/or methods of the present inventionshould not be so limited since other modifications will become apparentto the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, specification,and following claims.

Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, softwareelements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements mayinclude processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g.,transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips,microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software may includesoftware components, programs, applications, computer programs,application programs, system programs, machine programs, operatingsystem software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines,subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces,application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code,computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values,symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodimentis implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may varyin accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computationalrate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input datarates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and otherdesign or performance constraints.

Some embodiments may be implemented, for example, using acomputer-readable medium or article which may store an instruction or aset of instructions that, if executed by a machine, may cause themachine to perform a method and/or operations in accordance with theembodiments. Such a machine may include, for example, any suitableprocessing platform, computing platform, computing device, processingdevice, computing system, processing system, computer, processor, or thelike, and may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardwareand/or software. The computer-readable medium or article may include,for example, any suitable type of memory unit, memory device, memoryarticle, memory medium, storage device, storage article, storage mediumand/or storage unit, for example, memory, removable or non-removablemedia, erasable or non-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media,digital or analog media, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disc Read OnlyMemory (CD-ROM), Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R), Compact DiscRewriteable (CD-RW), optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-opticalmedia, removable memory cards or disks, various types of DigitalVersatile Disc (DVD), Blu-ray Disc (BD), a tape, a cassette, or thelike. The instructions may include any suitable type of code, such assource code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, staticcode, dynamic code, encrypted code, and the like, implemented using anysuitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled and/orinterpreted programming language.

1. An electronic game apparatus comprising: a graphical user interfaceto receive and respond to player inputs and present data to a firstplayer; a display device to present the graphical user interface; and aprocessor that executes computer instructions for responding to playerinputs and manipulating the presentation of data in the graphical userinterface and causing the presentation of the data on the displaydevice, the processor configured to: process data to present a game areain the graphical user interface on the display device, the game areaincluding a game character associated with the first player, wherein thecharacter moves within regions in the game area and interacts with theobjects in the regions; process data to present at least a doober in thegame area; and process data to graphically identify the at least onedoober as collected by the first player in response to at least an inputto the graphical user interface by the first player, wherein the atleast one input is made within a particular distance from the at leastone doober.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least on inputtouches the at least one doober, and the apparatus is one of a computer,a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal digital assistant.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the electronic game is presented with aninterface to a social network website.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the electronic game is a first person shooter.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the doober is rendered as a 3-dimensional objectwithin the game area.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at leastone input is within the particular distance if the input is within apredefined 3-dimensional space encapsulating the doober.
 7. A method inan electronic game system comprising: presenting a game area in agraphical user interface on a display device, the game area including agame character associated with the first player, regions and objectswithin the regions, wherein the character moves within the regions andinteracts with the objects; presenting at least a doober in the gamearea; and identifying the at least one doober as collected by the firstplayer in response to at least an input to the graphical user interfaceby the first player, wherein the at least one input occurs when theinput is provided within a particular distance from the at least onedoober.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the input touches the at leastone doober, and the display device is associated with one of a computer,a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal digital assistant.
 9. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the electronic game is presented via a socialnetwork website or with an interface to the social network website. 10.The method of claim 7, wherein the electronic game is a first personshooter.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the doober is rendered as a3-dimensional object within the game area.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the input is within the particular distance if the input iswithin a predefined 3-dimensional space encapsulating the doober.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodied with programinstructions for causing a processor to execute a method in anelectronic game system, the executed method comprising: presenting agame area in a graphical user interface on a display device, the gamearea including a game character associated with the first player,regions and objects within the regions, wherein the character moveswithin the regions and interacts with the objects; presenting at least adoober in the game area; and identifying the at least one doober ascollected by the first player in response to at least an input to thegraphical user interface by the first player, wherein the at least oneinput occurs when the input is provided within a particular distancefrom the at least one doober.
 14. The computer-readable storage mediumof claim 13, wherein the input touches the at least one doober, and thedisplay device is associated with one of a computer, a smartphone, atablet computer, or a personal digital assistant.
 15. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the electronicgame is presented via a social network website or with an interface tothe social network website.
 16. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 13, wherein the electronic game is a first person shooter.
 17. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the doober isrendered as a 3-dimensional object within the game area.
 18. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the input iswithin the particular distance if the input is within a predefined3-dimensional space encapsulating the doober.